Why this prawn-rice combo is leaving a bad taste in the mouth of Kerala’s Pokkali farmers

From the prehistoric rock arts to the recent agricultural journals, there are records of innumerable methods of agriculture being practised by human beings over the years. As methods such as intercropping, intensive and mixed farming and shifting agriculture are popular even today, a 3,000-year-old unique method of paddy cultivation in the three coastal districts of Kerala faces threat from the prawn aquaculture lobby in the region. Pokkali paddy cultivation is an organic saline water cultivation method practised in the coastal districts of Kerala, namely Ernakulam, Alappuzha and Thrissur for centuries.

Pokkali, a traditional saline-tolerant variety of rice, is cultivated in the water-logged areas of the five taluks of the three districts, bordering the Arabian Sea. Being a unique variety of rice, Pokkali won Geographical Indication (GI) status in 2008-09. The cultivation is done during the monsoon, as heavy rains in the months of June-July bring down the salinity levels in the marsh, enabling germination of the Pokkali paddy seeds. The marshlands will be converted into paddy fields with bunds and water regulation to and from the adjoining backwaters. The paddy cultivation preserves the natural rain water and backwater water exchange and tidal phenomenon. As it takes seven months for the Pokkali rice to mature, the remaining five months are used for the cultivation of fish every year.

Prawn plagues Pokkali

After the monsoon, “natural fish cultivation” is practised where fish seedlings from the backwaters are trapped in the bunded paddy lands and allowed to mature over three to four months before the catch is made in March-April. The significance of this method of cultivation — seven months for Pokkali rice and five months for fish in a year — is that it is not found in any other parts of the world.

A collective paddy cultivation area, called Padashekharam, covers around 300-500 acres. Pokkali cultivation was going on smoothly until the second half of the 20th century when prawn cultivation by this method gained commercial significance. By the early 21st century, prawn aquaculture started replacing both Pokkali and traditional fish cultivation illegally by pushing prawn aquaculture throughout the year by manually holding the highly saline water within the Padashekharams, say farmers.

“This has devastated the soil properties, paddy cultivation, vegetable cultivation on the bunds and the ecological balance of the region, according to Nipun Cherian, an active campaigner for the preservation of Pokkali paddy lands and a member of the V4 People Party in Kochi. Of the 400 acre Maruvvakad Padashekharam in Chellanam Panchayat only four acres were used for Pokkali cultivation in 2021,” Nipun told The Federal.

The farmers of Pokkali rice are in deep trouble. Chandu, a farmer, said the issue began after globalisation when export of prawn became a huge money-spinner. “I have been cultivating Pokkali in Maruvakkad after my retirement from service in 2000. It was profitable and I could also provide jobs for many in the locality. The region where Pokkali cultivation was done has shrunk to a large extent mainly due to the arrival of the prawn contractors, who use the Pokkali fields for prawn cultivation for the whole year,” said Chandu, who sells a kilogram of Pokkali rice for Rs 150. “My Pokkali paddy fields remained unaffected during the flood that wrecked havoc in Kerala in 2018. It shows the tolerance of this traditional variety during natural disasters.”

The complaint of the Pokkali farmers is that to give undue benefits to the contractors of prawn farming, the dewatering process is deliberately delayed, which in turn adversely affects the Pokkali cultivation. “The water had to be pumped out completely in the months of March and April, but it was not done. I can’t do it alone. Even if I do it with my pump, water from the adjoining fields will pour into mine. So dewatering must be done with everyone’s help. The prawn contractors are against this,” said the 74-year-old Pokkali farmer in Maruvakkad in Ernakulam district.

Even though Chandu’s paddy land could not be dried due to the faulty dewatering practice by the monitoring committee, he ploughed it on June 26 this year. Sowing was done on July 7. “The water level just outside my paddy land in the vella chaal (water channel) was high so the water from my paddy land could not flow out. If the water level in the vella chaal remains high, it will lead to a breach of bund and the cultivation would be destroyed,” he added.

While Pokkali rice cultivation is practised during the low saline phase (June to mid-October), the prawn farming is done during the high-saline phase (November to April). Chandu had filed writ petitions to prevent the contractors from using the Pokkali field for prawn cultivation in 2020 and 2021 is the High Court of Kerala. Under Rule 16 (6) of the Kerala Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture Rules, 2013, the seasonal prawn cultivation period in the Pokkali fields is fixed to be from November 15 to April 14 every year. On March 11, 2019, the district collector ordered that the Pokkali fields should be made available by the Maruvakkad Padasekhara Karshaka Union for paddy cultivation after April 15. “But the contractors continued illegal prawn filtration even after April 15, without conducting Pokkali farming. This is happening not only in Maruvakkad, but also in every Pokkali field in the three districts,” said Chandu.

Drying and ploughing of the paddy land before the onset of monsoons in June is critical to enable Pokkali rice cultivation. The sowing of seeds is done in the ploughed paddyland cleansed by the rain waters of its salt content. But this year, the dewatering started only on May 2, 2022. “If motors were operated as per the High Court order, dewatering could have been completed in eight days. But it was not done properly. The paddy lands were not dried fully. The water level at the vella chaal next to the paddy lands were not maintained,” he said.

In “A Study on Farmers Perception on Problems of Pokkali Rice Farming in the State of Kerala”, researchers N Shamna and Vasantha R said this precious culture is encountering immense problems such as acute shortage of farm hands for harvesting, shift to monoculture of prawn farming from rice-prawn farming system and other anthropogenic reasons such as conversion of Pokkali fields for other purposes such as roads, bridges, residential or commercial activities and overexploitation of fish and prawns. “This has curtailed the area under Pokkali from 25,000 ha a few decades back to a mere 8,500 ha now. Out of which only 5,500 ha is under rice cultivation, the rest is either left fallow or used only for prawn farming,” they said.

The Pokkali cultivation in the Larger Periyar Delta region (the mouth of Chalakudy, Periyar, Muvattupuzha rivers) could have a longer history than expected, according to archaeologist PJ Cherian. The wharf context excavated at Pattanam archaeological site in 2008, according to him, unearthed a plethora of botanical specimens from the clay layers below the six-meter canoe.

“The paleo botanical studies conducted by Deccan College of Archaeology, Pune identified most botanical specimens as non-local. The provenance of rice samples found at Pattanam in the wharf context and the husk inclusions in the clay bricks are yet to be scientifically confirmed. But in all probability, it could have been the Pokkali paddy of the Larger Periyar Delta region. This is what experts believed after preliminary observations,” said Cherian. Rice-arrack ‘rakk’ was one of the delicacies of the food culture of ancient Chera Nadu according to Sangam literary evidence. “The medicinal value of this rare species of paddy and fish cultivated in the saline water bodies could have also attracted sailors and merchants from three continents to this region 2000 years ago,” he added.

As the Pokkali fields are highly fertile due to natural recycling, they don’t need any kind of manuring. Pokkali rice is cultivated without using any kind of artificial manures. The importance of preserving this variety is that it is tolerant to pests and diseases. “There should be clarity on how to maintain the water and man-made bunds in the Pokkali paddy fields. The seasonal calendar must be followed in this case. If it is not done, we will be losing the traditional rice soon. The state government should take immediate steps to protect the Pokkali paddy fields in the three districts of Kerala,” said Francis Kalathungal, general convener of the Pokkali Samraskhna Samithi.